Suddenly they saw what appeared to be arms, legs, and heads pushing forward out of the walls, as if humans were stepping out of the walls themselves. In fact, humanoid things did step forward out of the walls. They were devoid of any facial features however. Axel and Alena stared at them in horror as faces formed and they began to appear more and more human until they eventually morphed into German SS troopers, complete with gray uniforms and helmets emblazoned with the SS death’s head.
Pistols began to form in the thing’s hands and they raised them to aim at Alena and Axel. “Halt!” they shouted in German.
“Oh crap, what do we do?” Axel asked.
Alena glanced to their right and noticed an open doorway where she had not seen one before. Had it always been there? She grabbed Axel by the arm. “This way!” she shouted as she pulled him through the doorway. It closed behind them, disappearing completely, as if it had never been there. Axel ran as fast as he could and Alena deliberately kept her pace slow so as not to leave him far behind.
“Wait,” Axel shouted after a while and slowed to a stop. “I’ve got to rest.” He leaned against the wall panting heavily. Alena was hardly even breathing hard. This was barely a slow jog for her. “Jesus, how big is this place?” he asked not really expecting an answer.
“Our scientists estimate it’s as large as a city.”
Axel turned to face her. “What sized city?”
“Um, Moscow,” she said.
“Christ Almighty,” he mumbled under his breath.
“If I’m correct, we’re basically in the city center. The temple we came in through acted as a sort of subway entry point, for lack of a better reference. There are most likely others.”
“This place just sits here? Where are all the aliens?” Axel asked.
“I have no idea, but the Nazis speculated that these are automated outposts spread throughout the galaxy or the universe, or whatever.”
“And they just sit empty waiting for humans to stumble in and take them over? To make an army of Nazibots or whatever those things back there were?” Axel asked.
Alena shrugged. “You now know what I know,” she said and then looked him up and down. “Are you ready to go?”
Axel was about to answer when the wall behind him began to move. He leapt forward, startled, so as not to fall backward. He and Alena were astounded by what they saw next. Colonel Arnulf stepped forward. Not the Arnulf they had left back in the base’s “brain” but the younger version they remembered from their childhood. Both of them stepped backward, away from the young Arnulf.
Alena felt her pulse and breathing quicken as terrifying memories swept through her mind. “This is impossible.”
“What is, my dear?” young Arnulf smiled wolfishly.
Axel didn’t wait for it to speak again. He released a burst of electricity which hit young Arnulf right in the center of his chest. He essentially cooked him from the inside and young Arnulf exploded.
Axel looked at Alena. She stood still, shocked and scared. He grabbed her by the arms. “It’s alright, Alena,” he said. “That wasn’t him, just one of those things.” Her eyes met his. “Are you alright?” he asked. She nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
Axel led the way now, taking Alena by the hand and pulling her behind him. They ran along the corridor, which seemed to stretch forever. Suddenly, Alena stopped, causing Axel to do likewise. “What?” he asked.
“We can’t just run aimlessly through a place this big,” she said. “I have to find Alexi.” Axel nodded. “I’m not just going to leave him like you left us.” She didn’t mean to let that last part slip out.
“What are you talking about?” Axel asked.
Alena shook her head. “Forget it, Axel.” She had not wanted to get into it, but seeing young Arnulf had brought a flood of memories and emotions rushing back.
“No, I can’t forget it now,” Axel said.
“In Berlin,” she reminded him. “You left us there. Dr. Holger took you and Rolf and left me and Alexi. Left us with those monsters.”
“I didn’t want to Alena. We didn’t have a choice,” Axel said. “They were trying to kill us.”
“What do you think they were trying to do to us?” Alena asked.
“You ran off,” Axel began, but Alena interrupted him.
“I was chasing Alexi. He was terrified.”
“We were all terrified. We were just kids, all of us,” Axel said. “Dr. Holger took us back and then left to find you. I swear Kristel.”
“Don’t call me that!” Alena said and spun angrily away from him. She placed her face in her hands and fought back tears. Then she calmed herself. “I know you were terrified, too. I know that it wasn’t your fault. But we felt so abandoned. Left in the hands of that demon and his little hell spawns.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “I’ve missed you, Axel. I’ve thought about you every day.” She waited, but he didn’t say anything. “I love you,” she said. “I always have.” He remained silent which hurt. It hurt badly. Why didn’t he say something, anything? “Do you even care?” she asked softly as she turned to face him, but no one was there. Axel was gone.
“Axel!” she shouted. “Axel, where are you?”
Alena began to run back the way they had come. She saw no doors, nothing where he could have gone. She stopped. How could he have just disappeared like that. “Axel!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, but received no response.
Chapter 22
Axel laid on the floor, unsure of what had happened. It was as if the floor had simply given way beneath him. It was pitch black and he could not see a thing. He sat up and as he did so, the area was illuminated. He sat upon what appeared to be a twenty foot-by-twenty foot disk floating high above the floor of a stadium-sized, dome-shaped cavern. Axel stood and looked straight up at the ceiling, just a few feet above his head. That ceiling had been the floor just a few moments ago and he had to assume Alena was still up there.
“Alena!” he called out but received no response. “Alena, can you hear me? Alena!” He paused for a long moment, but after hearing no answer from above, he glanced about his surroundings in an attempt to figure a way out. He peered over the edge of the disk and his stomach tried to climb up into his throat. It was a long way to the ground. Much too far to jump. At best he’d break his legs, at worst he’d kill himself.
“How in the world is this thing just floating here?” he asked himself. Then he had an idea. What if it was like the tubes. What if he could step off the floating platform and some zero gravity field would allow him to just float to the ground.
Axel unclipped the radio from his belt and tossed it over the edge of the disk. He watched, disheartened as it fell at free fall speed, shattering upon the ground below. “Well, there goes that idea,” he told himself and then sat back down upon the floating platform, cross-legged.
Axel heard the disturbing laugh of Arnulf echo through the cavern. He quickly leapt to his feet. “Come out and face me you bastard!” he shouted.
“Face you?” Arnulf asked. “I am facing you. No matter what direction you turn, I am facing you. I am everything you see. I am everything you hear, feel, or smell.”
“Where is Alena?” Axel asked.
Arnulf chuckled. “Running around, aimlessly searching for you. None of you will serve me willingly. Not yet anyway, but as I said, I will break you. Even if it takes months.”
Axel laughed. “And you think leaving me suspended in a giant cavern is what will break me?”
“Oh, this isn’t for you,” Arnulf said. “I have something else in store for you. No, this is just to keep you out of the way for the moment.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, Kristel is terrified of being left again. Abandoned by you. Just as you abandoned her back in Berlin.”
“I didn’t abandon her!” Axel shouted angrily, his voice echoing through the cavern.
Arnulf laughed again. “You heard her. She believes you did and that’s what matters.
The last time Kristel was abandoned by you, she was ‘rescued’ by the Red Army. The Russians aren’t coming this time. Valkyrie is not coming! I will rescue her. I will save her.”
“You bastard!” Axel shouted into the nothing. Arnulf cackled and Axel listened as the laughter faded away. “Arnulf!” he shouted. “Arnulf!” He was answered by nothing but silence.
***
Alena ran. She didn’t know what happened to Axel, but she could not spend any more time searching for him. He was a big boy and could take care of himself. She needed to get to her brother. God only knew what he was going through right now.
She reached the wall that she and Axel had stepped through initially and placed her hand on it. How did these things open? The others had opened more or less by luck. Of course she didn’t tell Axel that, but she really had no idea how to operate anything in the base. She began to feel around the wall searching for something, anything that might open it. She really needed to get to the other side. “Open dammit!” she shouted and to her surprise the hatch slid open, like magic.
Alena peeked through the hatch, but did not see any of the Nazibots that had chased her and Axel before. She stepped through cautiously and then once she was confident none were around, she began to run toward the “elevators.” She reached the room containing the large tubes in which she and Axel had descended to her current level. How was she going to get back up to where Alexi was? She didn’t even know how she got down there to begin with.
“Halt!” a voice said in German and she spun to see two Nazibots aiming pistols at her. She slowly raised her arms as if to surrender.
“You got me,” she said. The words had barely left her lips when she flew forward in a blur of red, snatched the pistol from each of their hands and popped out behind them. They turned to face her and saw a smile on her face. “Bye bye,” she said and shot them both in the chest with some sort of electrical stun blast, not unlike what Axel shot from his hands. The Nazibots fell back onto the floor, motionless. “Wow, these really work,” she said as she glanced at the pistols a smile on her face. The smile quickly faded as she noticed arms and legs emerging from the walls. More Nazibots were coming.
Alena spun and bolted from the “elevator” room in a flash. She turned to her left, away from the control center that housed Arnulf, and ran as fast as she could. She knew she would most likely have to go back to the “elevators” eventually, but right now she just needed to get away from the Nazibots. She wanted some peace for a moment to think. How the hell did the elevators work?
Alena ran along the corridor. She ran past more and more Nazibots emerging from the walls. How in the world was Arnulf doing that? Suddenly, she slid to a stop as a horde of Nazibots stood blocking her way, pistols raised. “Halt!” came the German voices.
Alena raised her pistols and fired burst after burst shocking the Nazibots and causing them to fall hard against the floor, at least temporarily out of commission. She fired until the energy levels of the pistols had been exhausted and no more bolts leapt forth when she pulled the trigger. She dashed toward the remaining Nazibots, her hands falling to her sides and dropping the pistols before drawing her swords.
The Nazibots blocked her path through the corridor, stretching from wall to wall, so she ran to her right and with blinding speed was able to run up and along the wall. She removed more than one Nazibot’s head as she passed by. She leapt from the wall into the mass of bots and with a sword in each hand Alena slashed and sliced. She moved much too quickly for them, stabbing one, slicing the pistol hand off of another. Soon, she had dismembered the entire horde and those still functioning did so without arms.
“Halt!” an armless Nazibot ordered. Alena chuckled before rushing toward it and slicing its head from its shoulders. Then she was gone in a blur of speed, once again running down the long corridor. She needed to find a way to get to her brother.
***
Tom walked along the corridor and Alexi followed behind. The big guy was a bit closer than Tom would have liked, but Tom realized that he was probably scared. Tom was scared, so it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise for Alexi to be also. Tom heard voices up ahead and stopped in his tracks. Alexi did not stop as quickly and bumped into Tom, nearly knocking him down.
“I’m sorry, Tom,” Alexi said, the sincerity evident in his voice.
“Shhh,” Tom said quietly as he placed a finger over his lips. Alexi nodded and Tom patted him on the shoulder to let the bigger guy know there were no hard feelings. Then Tom pointed to his ear and turned and pointed down the hall. Alexi nodded his understanding.
They heard footsteps fast approaching as the voices continued. Soon they were close enough that both Tom and Alexi could make the voices out. To their great surprise, the voices were German. The two men glanced at one another, and Tom saw the panic he felt reflected back in Alexi’s eyes. Multiple German voices couldn’t be good.
Tom was stunned for but a moment when he saw a squad of Nazi SS soldiers turn the corner in front of them. The Nazis stopped and stared for a moment before shouting “Halt!” in unison. Instead of halting, Tom raised his rifle and squeezed the trigger. The Nazis drew their pistols and returned fire. Instead of bullets though, blue energy beams leapt out of the barrels. One hit Tom, knocking him to the ground.
Alexi saw Tom fall and that snapped him out of his shock of seeing the German soldiers. Then a blue energy beam hit him. It stung. It stung bad, and made Alexi angry. He snatched the large war hammer from the sling on his back and charged the Nazis, a deafening war cry leaping from his lips and echoing through the hall.
The Nazi soldiers were expressionless as Alexi burst into their ranks, his mighty hammer slamming into the chest of the closest, sending the soldier flying backward and landing several feet away. Alexi swung downward at another, smashing the soldier into the floor. The soldiers did not flee or retreat, but rather continued to fire at him, making him angrier and angrier with each stinging blast. He swung his hammer across his body smashing into three soldiers, then swung back again hitting two more. Alexi smashed and swung until no German soldier remained upright.
He surveyed the area and seeing no more soldiers turned back toward Tom. He was relieved to see the American regaining his feet, having only been stunned by the energy blast. He rushed over to help him. “Are you okay, Tom?” Alexi asked.
Tom nodded. “Yes, thank you. The insulation in my suit must have absorbed some of the blast.”
Both men heard a slow clapping and turned to see a young Colonel Arnulf standing tall in his German SS uniform. “Well done, Gerd,” Arnulf said.
“What the hell?” Tom whispered to himself.
“You do have that killer instinct,” young Arnulf smiled. “I always knew that you did. You just needed the proper motivation.” Alexi took a step toward Arnulf. “And that is why Tom, Axel, and Rolf helped me lure you here.”
“What?” Tom asked.
“And we are going to kill you and your sister if you do not join us!” Arnulf hissed.
Alexi’s face turned red with rage. He leapt forward, his war hammer raised high over his head, and slammed it down onto Arnulf, smashing the Nazi into the floor. He pounded the body over and over and over until there was nothing recognizable left. He then spun to face Tom, a wrathful scowl upon his face.
Tom’s eyes went wide as he realized that Alexi believed that he was in league with Arnulf and the giant of a man was about to crush him. “Wait,” Tom said as he held his hand up.
Alexi ignored him and charged, his hammer at the ready. Tom raised his rifle to his shoulder and fired three rounds before Alexi’s hammer swung, knocking the rifle from his hands. Alexi then backhanded Tom, knocking the American backward and sliding several feet. Alexi stepped over him and raised his hammer over his head.
Tom flipped over onto his back and saw Alexi about to crush him. “He was lying,” Tom managed to say before the hammer fell, but he could tell it made no difference. Alexi was too angry to pay any attention. Tom s
queezed his eyes tight as he saw the hammer begin to drop.
Chapter 23
Axel sat cross-legged atop the floating disk, high above the floor of the synthetic cavern. His intent was to think of a way out—to clear his head and figure out how to get out of there. How to open the hatch above his head, or float down to the floor below. There had to be a way to do it. Unfortunately, all he could think of were his friends being in the clutches of that bastard Arnulf. God only knew what that maniac was doing to them. All of them. Rolf, Tom, Dawn, Alena, and Alexi. All of them were his friends and family. His helplessness—imprisoned on a floating disk—frustrated him to the point of anger.
Axel slammed his fist down onto the top of the disk and then leapt to his feet. “Let me out of here!” he shouted angrily at the emptiness of the cavern. Then he stood still listening to his voice echo until it dissipated into nothingness. His head dropped in frustration and he fought back tears. Not tears of sadness or fear, but of exasperation. He just wanted the hatch to open. Just open.
Axel heard a whoosh above his head and saw the hatch had indeed opened. He could hardly believe his eyes. He leapt up and tried to grasp the edge of the opening, but he couldn’t reach it. He tried several times but failed each time. He stopped and stared at the opening wondering how it had opened and how he was going to get up there. Then he had an idea. He concentrated on his desire for the disk to float up to the opening of the hatch. Suddenly it did so, and Axel was back inside of the corridor where he had last seen Alena. He leapt off the disk and ran along the corridor.
***
Rolf walked swiftly down the long corridor holding an unconscious Dawn gently in his outstretched arms. He was scared. Not so much for himself, though that certainly was part of it, but primarily for Dawn. She had fainted after levitating into the air and Rolf did not know what to do, nor how to help her. He needed to find Tom or Axel. Surely they could help her.
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